Nico was surprised by the size and setup of Drake Archer’s office. There was a desk with a phone and computer but other than those standard office fixtures, the rest of the room was wall to wall shelves of record albums. It seemed Colonel Archer was some sort of collector of old LPs. Nico let his gaze travel over one shelf as he walked into the room. He did quick calculations. He figured there were fifty albums per foot of shelf space and with five shelves on each of the four fifteen-foot walls, that meant there were approximately fifteen thousand albums in the room. Nico was impressed. It was an amazing collection. He just wished he were there to listen to music.
Drake Archer looked just as Nico had expected. They’d been given a picture of him so he knew he was looking at the real Archer, but there was something in the way the man moved that was different. He looked pretty… normal. Nico had assumed a sociopath like Drake Archer, the man who by all accounts ran Stryker-Dunn, wouldn’t look so normal but he did. Nico should have known better. As a cop, he’d been taught never to make assumptions about suspects because they’d always prove incorrect. That was what Nico got for making assumptions. Stupid. Archer held out his hand and stared Nico right in the eye as he greeted him.
“Flynn. I’m glad you accepted my invitation. I thought it was important that we finally meet in person.”
Nico shook his hand and held his gaze. “I’m glad we’re meeting but I thought it was understood. I don’t leave the security of my apartment. It’s in place for a reason. What I do is too important to risk exposure for you or the company. I thought we were clear on that when you hired me.”
Archer smiled as he let go of Nico’s hand. “Things change, Flynn. That’s why I brought you in. We have come to a turning point and I wanted to be absolutely certain our cyber security is completely ready for what will be happening.” He waved his hand at a chair in front of the desk, walking behind it to sit down.
“What are you expecting to happen to our system after the shipment is received?” Nico asked, hoping that security around the shipment was what was causing Archer concern. He sat and shifted uncomfortably, frowning at Archer. He went on. “You know I haven’t put any shortcuts in place. With the money you’ve invested in cyber security for the company, I’ve set up the best firewalls available. If anyone tried to infiltrate our system, they’d not only be stopped and identified, but we’d be notified instantly. I’ve programmed in misdirects if anyone tries to hack us and as you know, we store anything critical on Minnow disks which you keep in a vault in this office.” Nico swept the room with a wave of his hand.
“Yes, well, that part has changed,” Archer said.
“What part?” Nico asked.
“The part about where the Minnow disks are stored,” he said, leaning back in his office chair. “I no longer keep them in my vault. I know if we were ever attacked, that’s the first place the thieves would look so I moved them to a more secure location.”
Nico blinked at him. The whole reason for the FBI and ATF to risk sending him and Mac in undercover was for Nico to be able to get a look at those disks and memorize what was on them. They needed to be able to pinpoint all the corruption going on within the company. If they couldn’t, there was no reason for them to be risking their lives. They needed to find out who on Stryker-Dunn’s board of directors knew about the covert missions the company was involved in. And they needed to be able to point fingers at those in the US government who knew about Stryker-Dunn’s activities. These people were fighting wars all over the world, often working for the side fighting the US. They were traitors of the highest order and they needed to be stopped. Everything was stored on those Minnow disks and Nico needed access to them.
“I don’t understand, sir,” Nico said, trying not to feel flustered. He knew they were watching him and recording his biometrics and behavior. He slowed his breathing and quieted his racing heart. Archer was staring at his neck and he prayed he wasn’t trying to measure the pulse in his veins. He shifted in his chair and looked away, taking a breath before looking back. “Was there something in the way I suggested keeping our records only on Minnow disks in your vault that you didn’t like?”
“No, no, Flynn.” Archer met his gaze and he moved his hand in the air with a dismissive wave. “Not at all. As I told you, I always thought your idea of storing the documents on Minnow disks was brilliant but the disks themselves are always at risk of being found. They’re not in the cloud so hackers can’t get a hold of them but because they exist, they are a liability as well as our greatest asset. I thought it was a brilliant system initially. But with the culmination of all of our work in South Africa, I was of a mind to move them somewhere that no one knows, not my closest aide, my men, and most certainly anyone who might try to attack us.”
“And you’re not going to tell me where that is, sir,” Nico concluded. This bastard didn’t trust anyone but himself.
Archer shook his head slowly. “No, Flynn. Call me paranoid in my old age but I wouldn’t trust my own mother with that information.”
Dammit.
“Yes, sir. I understand. I suppose I should get working on the security then. I’ll check to see if there are any layers I can add to what we’ve already got. I really don’t want to disappoint you, sir, but I truly believe we have the best of the best already in place.”
“Yes, well, double check. You can work in the outer office, here.” Archer stood up just as there was a knock at the office door. “Who is it?” he called.
“Sergeant McNulty, sir. I’ve been sent by Captain Strange, Colonel. I have your new bodyguard,” a woman called through the door.
Drake Archer walked over to the door and yanked it open. Nico was flooded with almost instant relief. Mac stood in the outer office. He was wearing black fatigues and damn if they didn’t look amazing on him. Nico thought he could eat the man alive. He towered over a woman dressed in the same fatigues standing in front of him. She wore a black beret on her head that matched the one Mac wore. She was unsmiling and Nico noticed she wore no makeup, making her appear quite plain. She stood at attention as she gave Nico only a cursory glance before looking directly at Drake Archer. She saluted and Archer returned her salute.
“Who is this, McNulty?” Archer asked, giving Mac an up and down perusal.
Jealousy flared in Nico. He didn’t like anyone looking admiring his man in any way. When did I decide Mac was mine? Oh, yeah, the moment he first saw me.
“This is Lieutenant Black, sir. We’ve just come from Captain Strange’s office. With your approval, he’s been assigned as your personal protective detail, sir,” McNulty replied in clipped tones.
“I see,” Archer said. “That will be all, McNulty. Uh, on second thought, wait a moment.” Archer turned to Mac. “Have you had a tour of the facilities?”
“I was going to do that next, sir,” McNulty interrupted whatever Mac had opened his mouth to say. “I gave him uniforms and assigned him a locker but Captain Strange wanted you to meet him before the tour, sir.”
“Okay, then, I’ll have you give Mr. Flynn a tour as well. Wait outside for them, McNulty.”
“Yes, sir.” They exchanged another salute before she pivoted and disappeared behind the door Archer closed. Archer inclined his head and stared up at Mac’s face. Mac towered over Archer who was about the same height as Nico.
“I need to talk to you, Lieutenant, but we can do that later. This is Mr. Flynn,” Archer said, turning to Nico. “He runs IT and security operations for the company and normally works remotely. Since you’re assigned to me, Black, I suspect you’ll be seeing a lot of each other since I’m setting him up here in my outer office for a few days.”
“Yes, sir,” Mac said, still standing at attention.
“At ease, Black.” Archer walked over to a desk with a computer and a telephone as Mac relaxed. Nico forced himself not to look at him. Instead, he watched Drake Archer closely as he went to the desk. Nothing more than a yellow pad and pen were on it.
“This is your d
esk, Flynn. You have yesterday’s passcodes and logins. Here are this morning’s.” He reached into his pocket and handed Nico a small Post-it note with the login codes on it. The FBI’s cyber division had explained that one of the protocols Flynn had probably initiated was to have Stryker-Dunn change the logins and passwords every morning. Archer initiated the change by logging into his own system either in his office or remotely on a secure server where random letter and number combinations were generated.
The daily logins were distributed to those in the building who had the clearance. Everyone accessed only their own departments and any new bulletins were posted on a community site for Stryker-Dunn. Nico didn’t know if other military contractors were run this way, but most large corporations had a similar system in place, though the passwords might not be changed as frequently. Archer also had the ability to change the passwords at will so if he suspected an intrusion of some sort, he could manually trigger a lockout until Flynn could locate and disable the problem.
“Do you have any questions before McNulty gives you a tour, Flynn?” Archer asked.
Nico darted his gaze toward Mac for a second and then returned it to Archer. He shook his head. “No, sir. I know you wanted me to get started right away and I confess I’m interested in knowing why I have to have the tour. I mean, I have seen the building diagrams online, Colonel.”
Nico knew from looking at schematics at the FBI office that the building’s server room was located on the fifteenth floor where they were. Archer’s office was the only one on this floor and the floor was accessible only by elevator with a special key card issued only to a handful of people. Though stairs went to the floor, they were kept locked and alarmed at all times. Nico had no way of knowing, but he guessed that the doors located at each end of the building were accessible to the same people who held key cards for the elevator.
Other levels of the massive office building housed administrative offices for the people who ran the defense contractor Stryker-Dunn played at being. One floor was dedicated to the mess which could feed up to three hundred people at once. Another floor was for the armory which butted up to the officers’ quarters, and Nico knew another five floors were barracks for the enlisted personnel and lower ranked officers. Each floor could sleep as many as two hundred men and women, though the women’s quarters were on a separate floor and took up only half with a day room taking up the other half. In the day room, off duty personnel could watch TV, play billiards, darts, and table tennis. There was also a huge fitness center which took up an entire floor. Showers were on every barracks level and multiple public bathrooms were on each floor. Nico had no way of knowing how many mercenaries were in the building at any one time but it was clearly designed as a fully functioning military base.
Archer walked toward the door to the hallway as he spoke. “I want you to know where everything is. Until that shipment is received, I’ll have to insist you stay in the building. I’ll have McNulty assign you a private bunk.”
Nico frowned feeling panic rapidly setting in. So, until this whole thing was done, he was going to be Drake Archer’s prisoner. That didn’t sit well at all with him. He began to feel a little sick to his stomach. He wanted to look over at Mac but he refrained, following Archer out into the hall, feeling Mac’s large hulking presence behind him though they weren’t even touching. McNulty was waiting outside the door but when Nico got outside, he noticed the same dark man walking down the hall toward them. He spoke to McNulty.
“Captain Strange is looking for you, McNulty.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Colonel Archer wanted me to give the new men a tour.”
“It’s fine, McNulty. See what Captain Strange needs. Hayut can give them the tour and show them their bunks,” Archer said. “You’re dismissed.”
She saluted Drake Archer. “Of course, sir.” With that, she was gone.
Nico looked over at Archer. “I’m sorry, Mr. Archer. Did you say bunks…? Plural?”
Archer sent Nico an irritated look and nodded, glancing over at Mac. “Yes, Flynn. My bodyguard will be living here as well. He has to be close at all times and I also stay in the building when things get serious around here.”
“Of course, sir. Whatever you need. I go where you go,” Mac said. He threw Nico a glance and Nico could see the determination in his gaze. There was no way he was going to leave the building if Nico had to stay. That should have been obvious. He really hoped the body cameras were working so their friends were seeing everything and picking up as much audio as they could. He wished he was wearing more than the earwig, though. He knew everyone was watching but knowing that every word they were saying out loud was being monitored by Archer’s people really bugged the crap out of him. How he was ever going to be able to communicate the things he could hear to his friends in real time, he had no idea. It’s not like he could repeat everything that he was being told if the one speaking to him was out of range of the earwig. Archer’s people would think he was crazy. Nico wondered if Mac was feeling the same way.
“Flynn? Did you hear me?”
Nico shook himself. Apparently, he’d been daydreaming and Archer had been talking to him. “I’m sorry, sir.”
Archer smiled and held out a hand. “That’s fine. Go do your tour and I’ll expect you back in let’s say a half an hour?” He glanced over at the dark man.
“Yes, sir. I’ll have them back by then,” Hayut said.
Nico reached out and took the hand Drake Archer offered, shaking it. “I will have to go home and get more clothes.” He waved his hand up and down to indicate his suit.
“That’s all right,” Archer said, “we have everything you need in the building.” He looked over at Hayut who was still patiently waiting. “Take Mr. Flynn to the lockers and make sure they give him several uniforms and a shaving kit.” He turned back to Nico. “I’ll see you back…”—he looked at his watch—“… at noon. We’ll hit the mess hall and get you both some lunch.” He raised an eyebrow and glanced at Mac. “Clear?”
Mac saluted. “Yes, sir,” he said in clipped tones. Archer saluted him back and then turned, strolling back into his office. The door shut and Nico turned to Mac, opening his mouth to speak but something about the look in his eyes told him to just keep his mouth shut.
“You ready?” Hayut asked. “We’ll go to the locker room first.”
“Sure,” Nico said. “You, Lieutenant?” he asked Mac.
Mac nodded. “Let’s go.”
Nico glanced at Mac as they followed Hayut away from Drake Archer. When he caught the tiny shake of Mac’s head, he shut his mouth. This undercover, not being able to talk because they were being monitored thing, was pissing him off. He was still making a fist with his right hand to keep from reaching into his pocket to read the note Hayut had given him. He was dying to find out what it said. From the expression on Mac’s face, he didn’t seem to recognize the Israeli any more than Nico did. Who the fuck is he?
Hayut took them to the server room which was on the same floor as Archer’s office. The great yawing room was packed wall to wall with hundreds of stacks of servers. Nico realized that Stryker-Dunn’s network really was vast and this particular room stored the knowledge of everything the company had its filthy hands in all over the world. He looked around the room for some sign of a vault or safe, looking for anywhere Drake would have stored the critical Minnow disks which he had to get to. There was nothing. All the walls had computer servers against them in long numbered rows.
Nico felt helpless. Mac would be really upset when he realized what the others on their team already knew from monitoring his meeting with Archer—the reason he was here was now illusive as hell. Not only that, he and Mac were trapped in the building so even if he was able to read the Minnow disks, getting the knowledge out of his brain and into a recording device so the others could see what he was seeing was looking more and more hopeless. Nico realized for the very first time that not only were they in grave danger in the lion’s den, but that this missio
n was doomed for failure almost before it began.
Hayut escorted them out of the server room and headed for the elevators. They got inside and Nico and Hayut exchanged a small smile.
The man really knew how to play it cool, whoever he was. It seemed to Nico that the guy had nothing at all to tell him or Mac but that he seemed to know the two of them. He wondered at the intelligence that the operative had. If he was Mossad, Israeli intelligence would have the ability to know what they did about Stryker-Dunn. The fact that they did still stunned him though.
“I’ll take you to the locker room where you can pick up your uniforms and then assign you a bunk, Mr. Flynn,” Hayut said to him.
Nico nodded. “Thank you. I’ve brought no clothes with me.” Nico could hear the nervousness in his own voice. “I wasn’t expecting to stay.” He patted his pocket where the note rested. Hayut didn’t seem to notice as he gave a quick nod and then turned to Mac.
“Your quarters will be beside Colonel Archer’s. All of his security stays there,” Hayut said.
Endings and Beginnings (Death and Destruction Book 8) Page 13
